It’s been a busy couple of weeks. The Doodah Parade happened. Of course, more arty and less political… although Ann Lau and her band of fabulous Chinese activists were there with signs in support of the release of artist Ai Wei Wei imprisoned in China for… I don’t know… being brilliant at the Tate in London? (1) Devaluation in the realm of natural beauty. I stand with the Visual Artists Guild on this.
Then there was the fabulous evening conversation with Daryl Hannah and Julia Butterfly Hill at Pasadena City College. What an enlightening evening that was. Both of these women demonstrate that they are committed to environmental causes. Specifically, the trend to destroy trees, and other things… They discussed a range of topics including permaculture, and our addiction to oil. Thanks to Pasadena City College club Seeds of Change for the invitation to this event. Here are some short clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03SE3a2_WqI
Julia talks about living 738 days up in a redwood tree to save it from the wood butchers.
Her book about the day to day is called The legacy of Luna. Available at the Public Library.
Think it’s BS?
“97% of the ancient redwoods are cut down, and we are still cutting them down.”
Why else would anyone sit in a tree for two years? (2) Devaluation in the realm of natural beauty. I stand with Save Hahamongna .org on this.
Daryl Hannah talks about the necessity of insulating herself from nature as a child growing up in Chicago. Her father sent her to a summer camp in Colorado where she learned how to live in the wilderness, how to be attuned to it. It changed her life forever. She had made a connection.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4h6i_twlJI&NR=1
Julia Butterfly Hill asks the question: If you heard the sound of a tree being cut down every time you used a paper cup to drink out of, Would it change your decision to use that cup?
On the radio there was an hour long broadcast on the Malibu Lagoon. This is a wetland, much like Hahamongna, ripe with wildlife and migratory birds. The City of Malibu and the State of California want to dredge silt build-up, again much like Hahamongna. The contrasting difference is that there are actual alternatives to killing off the wildlife by using a sucking machine. The machine removes silt from down below, in the depths, which causes no trauma to the waterfowl above. Even with this kind of innovation available and used with success in the Florida Everglades, the State and the City appear to be deaf to the suggestion. Here is Lila Garrett on Connect the Dots, airing KPFK Mondays at 7am:
http://archive.kpfk.org/parchive/mp3/kpfk_110502_065915ctd.MP3
What is so strange in the Malibu situation is that Heal The Bay received millions of dollars $670,000 from the taxpayers (Prop 40: The Clean Drinking Water Act) to support and they support this destructive project because they feel it is the right thing to do*. What on earth? Sometimes when big establishment environmental organizations receive money, it corrupts them. Even the Sierra Club has towed the corporate line, in the past.
It makes me wonder why the L.A. Times decided to ignore all of the facts concerning Devil’s Gate Dam, it’s history and purpose, and to take a philosophical position of panic in the concern of Hahamongna. This article http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/01/local/la-me-devils-gate-20110501 bears no resemblance to the truth, followed by the L.A. Times Editorial http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinionla/la-ed-dam-20110506,0,3495285.story distorting everything to the advantage of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. The project of removing silt could be done for 1/7th of the cost of what Los Angeles County has in mind, similar to the alternatives proposed for the Malibu Lagoon Project.
Perhaps the county and city agencies want to use all of that big money.
Why are government agencies so bent on destruction of wildlife and wetlands? I don’t believe that is the intention, however, it will be the result of their current plans. The Department of Public Works for Los Angeles County has stated publicly to the Pasadena City Council that their job is NOT to protect wildlife or habitat. So why then in the search for a new Director of the Pasadena Public Works, is it stated in the list of responsibilities to maintain city parks and street trees, streets and roadways, buildings and vehicles, sewers and storm drains, street lights and traffic signals, and trails, streams and habitats? Are the two public works departments so different? (3) Devaluation in the realm of natural beauty. Stand with me on this.
Writing a letter to the Editor of the L.A. Times,
Mademoiselle Gramophone
PS. More information on the Hahamongna Plan at http://fohwp.org/
More information about what groups and organizations are doing at http://www.urbanwild.org/
Announcements of meetings that you can attend to become more educated on the subject on Twitter @ReportTree
*corrections made in response to an email (below) received this evening to admonish me for suggesting any corruptive influence is present within Heal The Bay.
On May 12, 2011, at 8:07 PM, Matthew King wrote:
Hello I am the communications director for Heal the Bay. A friend sent me a link to a recent blog post of yours where you make some crazy claims about heal the bay:
What is so strange in the Malibu situation is that Heal The Bay received millions of dollars from the taxpayers to support this destructive project. What on earth? Sometimes when big establishment environmental organizations receive money, it corrupts them. Even the Sierra Club has towed the corporate line, in the past.
Huh? Not sure who is spoon-feeding you disinformation, but Heal the Bay hasn’t received millions of dollars from taxpayers to support the project. It has no financial interest in the restoration and won’t profit from it going forward in any way. We simply believe it’s the right thing to do. You can disagree with our viewpoint, but please don’t question our integrity or suggest we are corrupt.
We have a 25-year track record of working collaboratively with groups throughout California to fix complex water quality problems, always guided by the best science.
Matthew King
